First Europe ... then the world for Devlin
Aussie aiming to cap Hearts rise with Qatar call
WHEN a surge in quality was required, Cammy Devlin stepped up and had his best game in a maroon jersey. Having set a new standard on the European stage, the Hearts midfielder now has his sights fixed on the World Cup.
The Australian was immense in the second leg of the Europa League play-off at Tynecastle on Thursday and one of the key factors in keeping the tie competitive until FC Zurich’s decisive late goal.
All of Devlin’s trademark dynamism and competitiveness was in evidence but so too was an ability to take command of play and pick a forward pass.
In the end, the game turned on a red card issued to team-mate Jorge Grant after a piece of simulation, the midfielder’s second cautionable offence of the night.
Fortunately for Hearts, Grant’s overly-dramatic fall came with a soft landing and the club will now parachute into the group stage of UEFA’s Conference League.
Having proved he can more than hold his own against the Swiss champions, Devlin can’t wait to get torn into what promises to be an exciting run of fixtures before the football calendar halts in November.
And the 24-year-old makes no effort to hide his main ambition of doing well enough to convince his national coach Graham Arnold to include him in Australia’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar.
‘Everyone knows what’s coming up in November,’ he says. ‘I haven’t been involved in a Socceroos camp yet but, from the way I play, you can probably imagine how desperate I am to be involved.
‘I am trying to show that every day in training. On weekends in front of the fans, I want to show it to them and the national team coach.
‘Hopefully, if I do well enough, he can pick me, but I can only control what I can control.
‘The group stages of European football is a big platform, it’s massive for any player.
‘If I do well in that, then fingers crossed — but you never know.
‘Not only for Hearts but for all the Australian players around the world there are 26-odd spots to get to the World Cup.’
Devlin can be assured that Arnold will be watching. The success of former Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou at Celtic has made Scottish football a hot topic of discussion Down Under and, of the 13 Aussies currently playing in the Premiership, three are at Tynecastle.
Kye Rowles and Nathaniel
Atkinson were part of Arnold’s last squad. Devlin wants to complete the set this autumn.
He continued: ‘We have three Aussies in the Hearts team, two who played in the qualifier to get us to the World Cup, so I’m sure they’re watching. I just have to keep performing and hopefully things go in my favour.
‘There are lots of big games ahead. You have to take the World Cup out of it because if I don’t perform for Hearts then there will be no chance I can think about being in a squad.’
Placed in Pot Three for the draw in Istanbul on Friday afternoon, Hearts were handed an intriguing section featuring Turkish outfit Istanbul Basaksehir, Italians Fiorentina and RFS of Latvia.
‘As a footballer, like any job in the world, if you don’t back yourself you’re probably not going to get where you want to be,’ said Devlin.
‘So I do back myself to control games. If you want to be a good player, go to that next level, which is what I want to do, you have to control games.
‘If you can prove it at this level and then another level, that’s how you get there.
‘I don’t want to be the sort of player who people think: “Oh, it’s a European game so he went hiding”. I want to be the sort of player that people look at and say: “Wow, he can step up”.
‘First half against Zurich was one of the most enjoyable halves I have played in a Hearts shirt — not just me, but for the whole team and the crowd. It was very good.
‘The only thing that was missing was the goal and, if we had got that, then I think we’d have got a few more, to be honest.
‘You just need to score goals and on another day, maybe Sunday against St Johnstone, those three or four chances we had go in and it’s 4-0 at half-time.’
Before beginning their Conference League campaign with a home tie against Istanbul Basaksehir on September 8, Hearts have three domestic games to negotiate, starting with today’s Premiership encounter with Saints.
Robbie Neilson’s team will have their stamina tested by a hectic schedule yet having joined a newly promoted club just over a year ago, Devlin sees no reason to grumble.
‘This club was in the Championship two seasons ago and now we’re disappointed we’re not in the Europa League groups.
‘The club has grown leaps and bounds since I came here, and I am just grateful to be part of it.
‘To be in the group stages of European football is a massive achievement but to be disappointed it’s not the Europa League shows where the club is at the moment.
‘But it wasn’t to be and it hurt.’